The Cherry Tree
by Chronic Sleeper
Summary: Sometimes words can hurt more than a person can imagine. And sometimes promises can transcend even human comprehension. KxK Modern Day. ONE-SHOT.


Disclaimer: I do not own any thing belonging to the franchise of Rurouni Kenshin or any of its affiliates. I'm only borrowing the characters for the use of constructing a story.

.

The Cherry Tree

_'No one is keeping you here.'_

Those words had been her undoing.

Even now, she could feel the runes of the spell swirling around the inside of her body, fighting her will and attempting to deconstruct themselves from the structure they were held in. Kaoru smiled bitterly at herself as she stared in the mirror, wondering why her form just didn't disappear right then.

No, from when those accursed words were spoken to her final movement as a faux human being would be a grace period for her to put herself together. She would leave at sunrise and when the glowing globe finally took its rightful reign in the sky, she would vanish.

Like she had never been there.

Adjusting her ribbon, blue with a gem-like intensity, she stared at her reflection, as if she was unconsciously clinging on the last visages of her fake life to remember after the human body was gone. She knew she was not dying, though it still hurt. Kamiya Kaoru would simply be returned to the original state she existed in.

The clock on her night stand let out a soft pinging noise, the only thing of her left in the room. Her clothes had faded long ago, no longer held by the witch's magic. The clock itself would stay until the last moment of the spell, erasing with it all that remained of her.

_'Why do you keep such an old clock?'_ Kaoru's heart twisted as she remembered Kenshin's offer to purchase a new time keeper. She had rejected it then with a small laugh, telling him that the clock was quite important and would only stop the moment she died. He had thought her joking and did not ask again.

In fact, the only thing that she ever accepted from her once-lover was the ribbon she was wearing.

Now she was grateful that it was the only thing that would be left of her.

Turning around she left the vacant room. Behind her, she dragged her suitcase, kept together by the weak illusion that was quickly draining of power as so to not call for suspicion. As she entered the living room, she tensed for the barest moment possible before pressing on.

He was there, sitting with his elbows on his knees, the cascade of brilliant red hanging like a disorderly waterfall. However, she found herself thankful that he did not seem to acknowledge her as she pushed her way to the door of the apartment.

Resting her hand on the brass handle, Kaoru smiled sadly one last time.

"Good bye, Kenshin."

Without looking back, she pressed through the door and closed it shut firmly behind her, tiredly letting go of what kept her.

–-

_'When the cherry tree blooms, will you come and see the sakura with me?'_

The bottle shattered as he angrily swept it onto the ground, vodka splashing everywhere on the polished surface of wood. Kenshin bent down, grasping without his usual grace at the broken pieces, cursing as one of the larger ones cut his hand. His was barely foggy despite his drinking binge, his body refusing to give him the luxury of drowning himself in sweet alcohol. By now, most of the bottles of sake, beer, and vodka that had been stocked in the beer bar of his home were either gone, empty, or broken, swept away by his staggering depression.

His friends had all been clamoring for him to see a therapist, laughingly worried about his 'current state of mind'. They could not understand why he had suddenly began acting the way he did, as if they had _forgotten._ It made him laugh bitterly as he made his way to the dark blue door, barely able to keep himself upright. Throwing the door open, he collapsed in the blue sheets of the bed, the ones he had purchased just recently to mimic the same blankets that had once been spread there before.

Hell, he had purchased a lot of things lately, alcohol one of them.

The room he was in had been set up as if they were expecting the original occupant to walk through the door and berate Kenshin for over drinking. Yet, even as he found himself twisted within the bed mixed with the scent of jasmine, the woman never appeared, the area next to him empty, leaving him aching and bereft.

Perhaps he was insane. Batshit crazier than anyone's attic aunt.

His friends seemed to agree. Acting as if Kaoru never existed. Or perhaps she didn't exist in the first place.

The only evidence of her existence he had left was the disappearance of his mother's ribbon. The blue one he had given to her on her last birthday. Priceless and hand woven, the cloth had been a masterpiece that he had presented to her with all his emotions – emotions he had feared with a passion. The same fear that would eventually drive her away.

_'No one is keeping you here_._'_

Those last words. Were they truly the final ones he had said? At the time, it had been the only sanest thing he could say – sharp, painful words that sliced his own heart. Had he known she would simply just disappear like a whips of his imagination, perhaps he would have never had said those words.

Yet, if he had not, what would stop from the both of them from the sure fall that would drag the both of them down into darkness? His obsession with her had been too all consuming, too powerful. He had been becoming something just as horrible as his late father. Cutting the relationship off was the only option too keep something as dark and twisted like him from tainting his innocent Kaoru.

_'Even now, I am still thinking her as mine.'_ Kenshin rebuked himself bitterly. Holding the comforters close, he drifted off quietly, comforted only by the lingering scent of fading jasmine.

–-

_Kenshin found himself among a field of white, dressed in the clothing of the people of old. The flowers were cool against his sandaled feet, seemingly beckoning him._

_The grey hakama rustled softly against his legs as his hair was whipped back weakly by the wind, bringing to him the faint scent of jasmine. Looking across, he found in the horizon of his sight a large cherry tree, like the ones that grew ancient in his yard. Resting beneath it was a figure, doll sized in his distant sight._

_He found himself moving quickly, compelled by some unknown force to reach the tree before the figure disappeared. As he pulled closer, the familiar blue wrapped around a high pony tail caused both a crushing ache in his heart and joy racing through his mind._

"_Kaoru."_

_The figure stood up as if she heard his whisper despite him being so far off. She faced him, smiling gently, holding her arms out as if to embrace him. A willing lamb, he moved quickly, almost throwing himself in supplication into her waiting form._

_Wrapped around him, her arms felt warm and solid, and soon he found himself weeping and sobbing uncontrollably. She stroked his head, fingers threading soothingly through his hair as she held him close. Her voice murmured softly sweet nothings, calming him like a mother a child._

"_I'm so sorry...I-..." His voice cracked as he broke into whimpers of pain. He held her to him almost painfully, as if letting her go would break him. "Please, please don't leave me...I-I can't live without you..."_

"_Shhh." She whispered into his ear as she drew back a little from him to press his forehead against hers. Smiling sadly, her hands picked the sakura that had fallen onto his gi, holding it to their lips, the petals a soft kiss. "Remember your promise? Under the cherry tree, we would watch it bloom. For now, let us enjoy our time together and tuck away your sorrow."_

_Kenshin held onto her silently like a young child as they sat against the trunk of the tree, near white petals falling on them like soft snow. In silence they watched, both content with the presence of each other. The red haired man found himself slowly succumbing to a heavy draught of sleep, his hands still clasped with his lover's. Kissing him chastely on the lips for the final time, he slipped away, slowly brought back into the grasp of reality._

Kenshin woke slowly, his arms still thrown around as if embracing a now empty spot. The area next to him felt warm, as if someone had laid in it. In the depression was a single sakura flower, as if it had passed from his dream had passed into reality. Yet what was his dream again? He could not seem to remember. The glass doors to the patio were open, displaying the large an ancient sakura, blooming for the first time in a decade.

In a trance, Himura Kenshin passed through the billowing light blue curtains, through the whirl wind of white petals, collapsing onto his knees near the the overhanging branches decked in beautiful flowers. The whiff of jasmine was carried by the breeze, as if to caress him with gentleness as the sudden beauty overwhelmed him.

He almost crawled towards the sturdy trunk, drawn by some strange mesmerizing force. Against it, tangled in its roots, was a solid stream of gem-like blue, fastened tightly to the ebony saya of a sword. Reaching for it, he found his eyes blurring. Tears fell unbidden as his fingers wrapped around the sheath gently, pulling the katana out from her resting place. A wave of familiarity filled him, as if pulling on something he felt he had long forgotten. Without energy, Kenshin simply sat there, holding the sword close like it was a life line, watching the petals falling around him like melancholic snow. He pulled, finding the sword easy to draw and without rust.

_'...see the sakura with me...'_

The voice echoed in the far distance of his mind as he looked down at the blade, the name _Kamiya Kaoru_ etched onto it.


End file.
